Double vision: Ernest Lapointe. Mackenzie King and the Quebec voice in Canadian foreign policy, 1935-1939

Many historians have argued that during the period from October 1935 to Sep tember 1939, when important international questions risked dividing angloph ones and francophones in Canada, Ottawa maintained an impressive degree of unity. They credit prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King with the acco mplishment, implying that he alone determined Canadian policy. The anglopho ne prime minister, however, needed help in understanding what francophones wanted and what they would accept. This help he received from his Quebec li eutenant Ernest Lapointe whose influence on Canadian foreign policy has bee n greatly underestimated. By threatening resignation, Lapointe guided the m ore imperialist King through three particularly explosive situations: the E thiopian crisis, the Munich crisis and the formulation of Ottawa's 'no-neut rality-no-conscription' pact.